Actively aerated compost tea is a microorganism and nutrient-enriched liquid compost extract or “tea” obtained by mixing compost, natural fertilizers, and water. The tea is used commercially and by home gardeners to quickly provide nutrients to plants either through application of the tea to plants as a foliar spray, or through application of the tea to a hydroponic system, or to the soil around the plants. Due to the diversity and abundance of aerated soil organisms found therein, aerated compost tea can rejuvenate naturally occurring soil microbe and other beneficial soil organism populations.
The agricultural benefits of compost tea include production and delivery of soil microorganisms that live symbiotically with plants by dissolving soil nutrients and providing these nutrients to the root systems of plants. By providing proper nutrition in this way, compost tea strengthens the innate immune response of plants thus protecting plants from root and foliar diseases. Growers are benefited economically through cost savings found by cycling nutrients from organic waste back into soils through composting. Further cost savings are realized when growers brew compost into tea thereby dissolving compost nutrients and beneficial micro-organisms into a liquid that can be easily applied utilizing normal farm, garden, and landscaping equipment as a way to deliver nutrition and beneficial microorganisms to larger areas under cultivation than could be reached utilizing compost alone.
Compost tea has emerged as a viable alternative to chemical fertilizers. There are numerous examples of agricultural and horticultural use of compost tea. Organic farmers commonly utilize compost tea as a fertility input. Practitioners of bio-dynamic farming and permaculture landscape management utilize many different compost tea recipes. Organically focused landscape management companies and plant nurseries have turned to compost tea as a primary source of fertility. Similarly, compost tea has gained popularity among fine gardening practitioners and backyard gardeners alike. Compost teas have also rapidly become a standard fertility input utilized by lawn care companies that specialize in natural lawn care.